annales historici prešoviensis anno 2005 - Prešovská univerzita v ...

ANGAŽOVANOSŤ ANDREJA HALAŠU
V NÁRODNOM ŽIVOTE SLOVÁKOV *
(príspevok k životu a dielu)
NADEŽDA JURČIŠINOVÁ
JURČIŠINOVÁ, N.: Involvement of Andrej Halaša in the national life of the Slovaks. In:
Annales historici Prešoviensis. Anno 2005. Prešov : Universum, 2005, pp. 129-141.
Among important Slovak national personalities of the 2nd half of the 19th and the beginning
of the 20th century ranks Andrej Halaša. His well-rounded activities helped to develop
cultural and social life of Slovakia of the given period. As early as during his studies at the
Protestant College in Prešov he contributed to the publishing of the student handwritten
journal Pokrok (Progress). After finishing his studies Andrej Halaša worked as a lawyer,
but he continued to be engaged in the national movement. He took part in the building and
activities of the National House and the Slovak Museum Association. He also worked as
a treasurer of the Slovak National Party and organized political and promotional meetings.
He gave speeches at pre-election gatherings and co-organized August feasts in Martin. It
is important to mention Andrej Halaša´s contribution to the development of the Czech-
Slovak cooperation, such as representation of the Slovaks at the Ethnographic Exhibition
in Prague in 1895. He developed contacts with the Czechoslovak Union (Českoslovanská
jednota), the association of the Slovaks in Prague, and was permanently in touch with the
Slovak student group Detvan in Prague. Halaša worked also as an editor and a journalist.
Among his hobbies belonged theatre where he worked as a director, actor, prompter and
technician. He activated ethnographic work in Slovakia, resulting in the collections of folk
songs, proverbs and local geographical names in central and eastern Slovakia. During all
his life he showed excellent organizational skills and thanks to his hard and varied work is
considered one of the most active personalities of his time.
Medzi významné osobnosti slovenského národného života druhej polovice
19. storočia a začiatku 20. storočia nesporne patrí advokát, organizátor národného
života, pokladník, divadelník a zberateľ národopisného materiálu Andrej
Halaša. Slovenská historiografia doposiaľ adekvátne nedocenila jeho prínos pre
slovenské národnoemancipačné hnutie. Súčasníci a spolupracovníci si A. Halašu
vážili a cenili si jeho všestrannú aktivitu. Nazývali ho „národným mravcom“. 1
A. Halaša sa narodil 17. 9. 1852 v dolnooravskej dedinke Záskalie. Pochádzal
z viacdetnej roľníckej rodiny. Po skončení ľudovej školy pokračoval
v štúdiu na slovenskom gymnáziu v Revúcej. V septembri 1867 z neho odišiel
a školu dokončil v Levoči, kde v roku 1871 získal maturitu. V rokoch 1871
* Príspevok vznikol v rámci riešenia projektu VEGA č. 1/2221/05 s názvom Východné Slovensko
v 20. storočí.
1 HALAŠA, Pavol - BUKOVSKÁ, Želmíra. Sprievodca po Národnom cintoríne. Martin : Matica
slovenská, 1981, s. 73.
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